Improved baling-press



4above the floor, where the cottonfis stored, and the within abont'four feet of the door below.

B B, and the whole secured 4 guides L L, small rollers being placed beneath the fitting the interior of the packing-box.

Vthe frame.

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intent @fitta M. D. CHEEK, lor MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE..

Letters .Patent No. 85,365,

dated Decemb 29, 1868.

HVIPROVED B.jAIIhIN'G-IPRIEISS.l

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part` ofthe laine.

To alt whom. it may concern:

Be it known that I, M. D. CHEEK, of Memphis, in the countyofShelby,-and State of Tennessee, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Ealing-Presses; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description ofthe same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of my press.

Figure 2 is an end elevation of the same.

Figure 3 is a vertical section through the nut and its seat, and showing a portion of the screw i'n position.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a part of the locking-bar and its latch. v

YYMy invention relates to a cheap form of baling-press, suitable for farm or plantation-use, and particularly adapted to baling cotton on the plantation.

For convenience, I will describe my press-as used for baliug cotton, though it may be used to advantage in baling hay and other substances. y

'Ihat others may understand my invention, I will particularly describe it.

The timbers A A, figs. land 2, are portions of the name-building, in which the press is situated, the press being placed therein so that its top portion will project bottom portion will project 'below said floor, and tol The timbers B B are the four corner-timbers of the press; and f v O C are the cross-timbers, framed into the timbers together by metal bolts in the usual manner.

Inside of theframe, composed of timbers B C, is the plank sheathing',- forming the compressing-chamber.

At the top of this chamber are two doors, D E, which, when opened, expose the two sides of the compressed bale, and permit the straps to be adj usted and secured.

The top of the pressure-chamber is closed by a removable head, F, which, when removed, exposes the whole interior of the chamber, and permits the cotton to be placed therein.

This head is provided with very strong eye-staples, G, onel or more at each end.

These tit between corresponding staples, H, which are secured to the frame of the press, and a key, I, secures them together.

The head Fis also hung, by jointed connections and connecting-rods J, to the T-head levers K, by which levers, &c., the head F is raised out of the packingchamber, and moved to one side upon the horizontal packing-head to facilitate its sideways movement.

At the bottom-of the press-frame is a nut, M, and lever N, through to which travels a screw, O, and at the top of the screw O is the usual platen or follower,-

The nut M is seated in a box, P, which is secured to the upper side of a cross-timber, at the bottom of The nut extends downwards through said box and timber, and is secured fast, at its lower en d, to the lever' N, by which it is turned.

Thescrewfthread is cut in the upper part of the nut,- and extends downward to a point about opposite to the surface of `its seat in the box P, and below that point the nut is chamber-ed so as not to touch Athe side of the screw-thread.

An annular channel, Q, is made in the top of the nut, as a receptacle for a lubricatingsubstauce, and from this channel a hole, R, is made to convey said lubricant to the screw-threads, and it will be observed that the hole R communicates directly with the uppersurface of the -female thread, that being the frictional surface, and therefore introduces the lubricant .directly between the frictional surfaces, instead of introducing it upon surfaces not in contact, and depending upon its own power of penetration to reaph the frictional surfaces. A' similar hole may also be made to convey the lubricant to the fn'ctional surface of the nut and its seat in the box M.

`When the bale is being compressed, there is of course great lateral strain upon all parts of the pressure-chamber, and it is, therefore, necessary to secure the doors D E in such a manner that they shall be able to resist said strain, but also so that they may be readily un` latched and opened, notwithstanding the pressure upon them.

To this end, l secure stout straps o r loops of iron to each end of the door D, and these loops extend across the end of the press, and are caught by the hooks W, on the tumbling-bar U, as shown in gs. l and 4.

The loops S are guided to their proper positions by gutters or troughs V, fig. 2, so that the hooks W, when the tumbling-bar U is turned back, permit the loops to pass over the points of the hooks.

'At 'the middle of the tumbling-bar U is a short arm, Y, which engages with. a latch, a, which'i's secured to the side of the door E, and holdsthe tumbling-bar in position against the .pressure of the loops on the hooks. The hooks W are so made that when the loops draw upon them, the strain will be very nearly across the axis of the bar, and with but little leverage, so that the pressure of the arm Y upon the latch a can never be so great as to render them difficult of attachment, and when the latch c has been detached from the arm, the loops S will always be liberated from the hooks W, and the doors be opened.

The ordinary packing-press used on cotton-plantations, requires a box of about ten feet in perpendicular height to contain suicient cotton for one bale. This box is filled with loose cotton, which is then tramped down, 'and more loose cotton put in and again tramped down, and so on, until it has been filled to its utmost capacity. The packing-head is thus securedin place, and the screw or other power applied to compress the mass to the dimensions for avbale.

In my press, the length of thepressing-chamber m be reduced to about six feet and six inches, a very im portant reduction in the cost of framing, and the diculty of securing the parts together, but most important in the reduction of the necessary length of the screw from seven and a half feet to four feet. This important reduction is eected by the use of my packing-head F, which, being jointed to the opposite ends of the T-head of thc lever K, as shown, enables me to depress the packing-head with considerable power, though a short distance, and I accordingly employ their powerfor the preliminary packing, and by it am enabled to compress as much cotton with a six-foot box as was possible by the old way to compress in a ten-footbox.

The operation of my press is as follows:

The doors D E are closed and secured by the loops S, projecting through the troughs V, and being secured upon the hook W by the latch a. TheA screw O and its follower are then rundown to the bottom of the pressure-chamber, and the pressure-head F is raised up and run to one side upon the guides L. lllheinterior of the pressure-chamber is now exposed, and the loose cotton may be placed therein until it is filled to the top. The packing-head -F is then run into position, and by moving the levers K from the position shown in Iig. 2 to that shown in g. 1, the head F is thereby forced to descend into the packing-chamber a distance equal to twice the distance between the pivots b o of the lever K and the cotton is compressed that much. A reverse movement of the levers removes thehead F again for the admission of more cotton, and this process is continued as long as any compression can be elec-ted by the levers K.

The keys -l are then inserted, and by turning the lever N, the'screw O and its follower are forced up and the bale is compressed. Then the follower has'reached the. level of the bottom of the ,doors D E, the compressing is-suspended', the doors are opened, and the bale is strapped in the usual way. Y

It is of course necessary that the pressing-head F should move up and down iu the pressure-chamber in a straightline, and to secu-re that result the guide-way d is made in the ends of the pressure-chamber, and on one side this guide is extended upward sufficiently to prevent a movement of the packing-head out of its place in that direction. i

Having described my invention,

l. 'The combination of the T- head lever K, packinghead F, connecting-rod J, or its equivalent, and the guides d and L, substantially asset forth.

2. The tumbling-bar U, with hooks W W, in combination with the latch a and straps .S S, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The straps S S, attached permanently to the ends of' one ofthe doors, and engaging with hooks WW, o1'

equivalent devices, upon the other door, so as to relieve the press-frame from lateral pressure, substantially as described.

Witnesses: M. D. CHEEK.

HUME F. HILL, THos. L. DUNCAN. 

